I grew up Methodist and now go to a non-denominational church, but I still observe Lent. I have a lot of friends who aren't religious who give up something during those 40 days.
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No we do not.
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As a Christian, and at our church, it's not required but we are encouraged to do it in order to learn what it means to sacrifice something and learn to live without & grow closer to God!
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Yes! Haven't figured out what my Lenten sacrifice will be this year though...
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Yup, I'm Catholic.
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Yes. It's an important spiritual time for me. I hate the end of winter and so the combination of austerity of Lent plus the natural cycle of the earth creates an environment where I can really reflect on going through difficulties and finding joy and hope at the end.
Plus I love fish frys.
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@jedeve: Ditto to everything you said
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Yes I always like observe Lent.
@jedeve: very profound!
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Not usually, however we don't eat meat on Friday's because DH was Catholic. So we continue that tradition because it is important to him. I might start giving things up again.
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Yes, I'm Catholic
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Nope, but most of DH's family does so we make plans around their choices.
I never understood the reasoning behind giving up most meat (fish is meat though, right?) so we can reflect on what it means to sacrifice, but instead have big dinners of fish fries. It seems counter-intuitive to me.
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@TemperanceBrennan: good point. Technically you are supposed to take the money you save on not eating meat and give it to charity. The fish fries are usually fund raisers, so pretty much the same deal.
Restaurants doing lobster promotions though is totally not the point though.
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Yes, we do. Although the last few years we haven't given anything up because I don't think it really does much to help us understand Lent and the sacrifice. Instead, we try to give up time usually spent doing something else to pray or read Scripture. Mostly this consists of going to a church service on Wednesday evenings during the weeks of Lent.
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Nope but I have attempted to give things up in the past.
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Nope.
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I'm not catholic but went to catholic school for 10 years so I used to give up things with/for school. Haven't since I graduated though.
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No.
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@jedeve: amen to the fish frys
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Yes, I'm Catholic. I even teach at a Catholic school.
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Yep, we're Catholic
But fun fact: you don't have to fast when you're pregnant, so there's that -
I grew up Methodist and we never gave anything up.
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@LovelyPlum: nor when you are nursing! It's fasting and abstaining.
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@singingbee: really? Huh. I don't fast when pregnant or nursing but do abstain.
Except I guess last Ash Wednesday LO was about a month old and I wolfed down some leftover sausage before mass. So I take that back.
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@jedeve: from the Catholic bishops site:
Q. Are there exemptions other than for age from the requirement to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday?
A. Those that are excused from fast and abstinence outside the age limits include the physically or mentally ill including individuals suffering from chronic illnesses such as diabetes. Also excluded are pregnant or nursing women. In all cases, common sense should prevail, and ill persons should not further jeopardize their health by fasting.
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@jedeve: I have never heard of this, regarding the money.
I feel that the reason was more a case of supply and demand a long time ago, kind of like the Italian Christmas Eve fish dinner. My mom contends that she was taught by the nuns that there just wasn't a lot of beef available to eat, so people ate fish out of necessity. And Jesus Christ was the fisher of men and the symbol of Christianity in the early years was a fish.
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I use to give something up from high school through law school. I haven't in recent years though. I wanted to do the reverse and add something positive but haven't really followed through (despite my good intentions!). I would really like to stick with no meat on Fridays again though...
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I like to give up something bad and add something good.
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@jedeve: @singingbee: I didn't know that! I think I'll try to abstain, but I guess if I feel like I need the protein, that's good to know!
And I told DH that if I go into labor on Good Friday (9 days after my due date), he probably gets a free pass, too
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@jedeve: Thanks! That makes sense. I'm in WI, and most restaurants do fish frys every Friday all throughout the year, so most Catholics (the ones I know anyway) just go to restaurants on Friday.
The church I grew up in had soup suppers on Fridays during lent that I guess were fundraisers too.
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We do. It's a time where we have lots of family rituals that call us back to our faith and one another. I could use that this year!
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@TemperanceBrennan: earlier in history, the Catholic Church used to run the fish markets, hence fish are ok.
Yes, I observe it because I am Catholic. No meat on Ash Wed or Fridays, and I think I am going to give up sweets this year. I also try to be kinder in general.
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Nope.
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@Mrs. J: I learned something today!
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Nope!
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@looch: so interesting!!!
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Our church gave up sugar during the week, then we ate sugary stuff together on Sunday. I didn't really do this, but I did eat the snacks on Sunday.
I would consider it if I read more about it and felt like it would be a growing experience. Mainly my friends who do it complain about it during Lent, which is what I do not want to do!
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@Happygal: fact! Complaining about it defeats the purpose
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36 comments